No Place to Hide Pt.1

     Jack Frost tossed fervently in his bed, a swirl of images racing through his mind. He was standing in a darkly lit cave, a mob of identical shadows surrounding and taunting him, when a sudden burst of white light found him standing on an icy ledge with...Pitch Black.

       Pitch spoke, but the words came out all at once, overlapping and nightmarish. "All these years I thought no one else could know what this feels like..." "What goes together better than cold and dark?!" "Fine. Then be alone!"

      Then it was as if the film of a movie caught fire as the dream started folding in on itself, leaving Jack with the image of Pitch being dragged screaming down into the earth as it collapsed around him.

     Jack awoke abruptly, cloaked in a cold sweat and breathing shallow, ragged breaths. He panicked slightly as he was trapped in tangled, unfamiliar bedsheets. It reminded him of the cold, dark place he had been lost in years ago before he even knew who-or what-he was, and the memory set him ill at ease.

     Slowly, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his thoughts managed to unscramble themselves.

      It was a month after the Guardians had waylaid Pitch's schemes and the children's belief had been restored. After brief deliberation North had decided to invite Jack to stay with him at the Pole, eventually giving him his own room. He had bunked with Phil at first, which had been uncomfortable to say the least, not only because yetis have a tendency to snore but they also famous for shedding thick bristly hairs.

     After what had happened, the Guardians were much closer than they had been before, and now it was not uncommon to see them gather at the Pole, the Warren or the Tooth Palace to help each other out or to simply spend time together. They were beginning to feel like the family Jack remembered before, which made him feel strangely out of place. He had wandered for so long alone without his memories or any friends to speak of (except of course for the Man in the Moon, but he wasn't exactly the chattiest of companions) that now that he had a home to go to he didn't quite know what to do.

       North told him that he just needed a little time, that he would adjust to his new life. But this newfound happiness threatened to engulf him, and oftentimes Jack worried that he may melt away altogether. To long for a family...

       Pitch's voice once again crept forward from the back of Jack's mind and he felt an unusual plummeting in his stomach. Was this pity?

 Jack moved silently towards the window, gazing out into the cold artic night. He knew that Pitch was out there somewhere. It was impossible for any of them to truly die, as long as they were believed in-even if only by a single person. But Jack also knew that Pitch was out there all alone, friendless and despised, and despite all that he had done Jack found it hard not to feel sorry for him. He knew only too well what it felt like to be alone, and since fear was what Pitch put into the world Jack could only imagine how much fear Pitch much harvest within his own heart.

      All at once Jack knew what he had to do. As quietly as he could, he opened the thick glass window just enough so that he could slide out underneath it. Closing it with a sound thud behind him, Jack entrusted his body to the wind and dove off the ledge.

       "Take me home," he whispered, knowing that Pitch's haunting grounds were right next to the lake where he used to live.
 
     Landing gently on the earthy soil, Jack was hit with an eerie stillness-and although the telltale wooden bed frame had been destroyed, Jack knew he was in the right place.
 
   Crouching down, Jack lightly palmed the surface of the earth, unsure if this action would reveal anything to him or not but knowing that he had to at least try.

      At first, there was no sign of anything unusual, except for the complete and total silence. Jack pressed his ear down to the ground, craning his ears for any sign of movement below. As he listened the ground beneath him trembled slightly, as though a shudder had passed through the earth. As the earth once again grew still, Jack dejectedly started climbing to his feet when all at once the ground opened up around him and he found himself spiralling downwards into a deep dark hole.